Church of the Good Shepherd
Jacksonville
FL

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We are friends. We are family. We care deeply. We have fun. We cry and laugh together. We love a good party. We remember your name. We are incredible cooks and delight in breaking bread together. We care about people, animals, and the planet. We try hard for our actions to match our words. We live in the world, not just inside the four walls of the church.

Welcome to Good Shepherd!

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Episcopal Church

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https://www.gsjax.church/

The Rev. Elyse Gustafson

Priest

904-387-5691

904-387-9575

The Rev. Elyse Gustafson has served in varying capacities as a priest at Good Shepherd since 2019. Prior to her time in Jacksonville, Elyse spent several years in parish ministry in North Carolina and Virginia and then on active duty as a chaplain in the US Army. Elyse holds an MDiv from Duke Divinity School, and MBA from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, and a BA from Wheaton College. She also serves on the boards of the Lighthouse Florida, JASMYN, and the Cathedral District Jax.

Gina Olson

Parish Administrator

904-387-5691 ext. 1003

904-387-9575

The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd is located in the historic Riverside neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida.

Sunday Worship

8:00 am Rite I in the chapel
A quiet, spoken service.

10:00 am Rite II in the nave
With organ and music from the Chancel Choir.

Wednesday Evening Prayer at 5:30 pm in the chapel
(4th Wednesday Eucharist)

Service Times last updated on the 3rd of June, 2025

Good Shepherd began as a Sunday school mission of St. John’s Church during the 1870s and was admitted to the Diocese of Florida as a parish in 1892. Throughout the years, it followed Jacksonville’s growth southward along the west side of the St. John’s River, moving its little wooden chapel, originally built on the corner of Riverside Avenue and Stonewall Street, to the corner of Oak and Gilmore (where, in 1915, the chapel survived a fire which destroyed the new red brick church), to the current site, purchased in 1917.

Led by the Rev. Milton R. Worsham’s vision for a seven-day-a-week church to serve both parish and community, Good Shepherd communicants planned and built the incredible facility which today still houses the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd at the corner of Park and Stockton Streets in historic Riverside.

Parishioner and local architect Mellon C. Greeley and Cleveland’s W.W.C. Corbusier, an authority on Gothic architecture, were responsible for the design of the complex. The gymnasium, now Craig Hall, was completed in 1918; the pool, a gift from Mrs. W.W. Cummer, in 1920; the Parish Hall (formerly Worsham Hall), now known as Betsy Lovett Hall, in 1921.

With its hand-carved stonework, wood carvings by Alois Lang of Oberammergau, Germany, floor tiles handmade at the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works from wax impressions from London’s British Museum’s collection, and its magnificent Skinner Organ, the church opened its doors for worship on Easter Day, 1929. However, the stock market crash in October of that year delayed the Consecration until 1951.

During the 1950s, under the guidance of the Rev. L. Valentine Lee, the Payne Studio designed and installed the stained glass windows. In the 1990s, the church was cleaned and had its lighting updated as part of a 3-year project to restore all church facilities. A special service was held on October 29, 2000 to rededicate the church and its members.